The Nashville Predators suffered a 3-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves for his 26th career shutout and his first with the Capitals. Head Coach Peter Laviolette recorded his 722nd career victory and tied Alain Vigneault for eighth-most wins in NHL history. The two teams last met on Feb 15, 2022, when the Capitals beat the Predators 4-1 in Bridgestone Arena. Laviolette earned his 700th career win and Alex Ovechkin net two goals, including a power-play goal, in the last meeting.
The home team was very pleased with their net-front presence after their 6-2 win against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, but Roman Josi noted after the loss that it was missing once again.
Colton Sissons won the face-off to start the game and Yakov Trenin recorded the first shot on goal less than 50 seconds later. Bridgestone Arena erupted when it appeared that Roman Josi may have scored toward the end of the period, but the teams went into the first intermission scoreless. The Capitals reported that both T.J. Oshie and John Carlson were “doubtful to return” with lower-body injuries, but neither returned to the game. Juuse Saros stopped 16 shots on goal and Kuemper stopped 11 to end the first 20 minutes.
Beck Malenstyn scored his second career goal and fourth career point with a wrist shot with 7:11 left in the second period. Malenstyn poked the puck along the boards. Ryan Johansen and Josi ran into each other as Nic Dowd sent the puck to Malenstyn for the goal. Dowd earned his 60th career assist.
Aliaksei Protas and Ovechkin notched two goals in the third period to seal the deal. The second goal of the night belonged to Protas, who had a net front presence, as he sent the rebound in for a two-goal lead.
The Predators had a total of five powerplay opportunities, yet they were not able to take advantage of that time. The Capitals have killed off 13 straight opposing power plays over their last four games, including all five of Nashville’s power play opportunities, per Capitals PR. As the game entered its final few minutes of play, the coaching staff made the decision to pull Saros for an extra attacker. Ovechkin scored his fourth goal of the season on an empty netter with 2:45 remaining. According to Capitals PR, Ovechkin’s empty net goal leaves him 18 goals shy of passing Gordie Howe (801g) for the second-most goals in NHL history. The goal also is recorded as his 16th career goal against Nashville, via ESPN.
The Predators will go on a five-game road trip with their first game on Nov. 1 in Edmonton.
